Secrets of the Adepts
by Evil Bob
Summary: Ivan searches for clues of his past, while Sheba's mysterious prophecies lead them to the lost city of Anemos. Rating due to graphic violence
1. Departure

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun. I wish I did. WAAAAH!!!!  
  
Secrets of The Adepts: Chapter 1:  
  
She was standing in a pool of blood. What remained of the monster lay on the ground around her. In front of her stood a stone tablet, inscribed with runes of power and summoning. She ignored the tablet, and continued to stare at the carnage that was Dullahan.  
  
Sheba's eyes snapped open. She shook herself. Dullahan was dead. They had killed it years ago. Iris's tablet no longer stood in the sanctum. "I must be going crazy." She said to no one.  
  
"Please don't. I have enough crazy people to deal with, what with everything else that is going on."  
  
"Mia! I didn't see you coming."  
  
Mia held up the cloak ball. "Of course not." She said, with that intolerably smug look on her face.  
  
"It's just," Sheba said, "I keep seeing Dullahan back. Every time I try to See, I always see myself in the Anemos sanctum fighting Dullahan."  
  
"It probably means something else. Didn't Hama say that you should not take your prophecies so literally?" Mia asked.  
  
"Yes but," Sheba began, "I just can't think of what else it might mean. I have to go to Anemos."  
  
"Sheba, you can't let your prophecies rule over you like that." Mia said.  
  
"Oh well. Where is the teleport gem?" Sheba asked.  
  
Mia sighed. "I think Ivan had it. What is with you two anyway?"  
  
Sheba didn't hear the last remark. She had already run off in search of Ivan. "Isaac! Isaac!" Sheba panted when she finally found Isaac, "Where's Ivan?"  
"Ivan?" Isaac asked, "He just left." 


	2. Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun. I wish I did. WAAAAH!  
  
Secrets of the Adepts: Chapter 2  
  
"What do you mean 'She's not here'?" Ivan yelled.  
  
"Master Hama left yesterday." The man said, cowering at the mage's fury, "She just walked out. She's not in Contigo anymore."  
  
"I need to talk to her!" Ivan said, "Why did she leave anyway!"  
  
The man gulped, "Master Hama said she needed to be alone."  
  
Ivan left. He walked through the streets of Contigo without looking where he was going. His mind was deep in thought. "How could she have left? Hama said that after the lighthouses were lit she would tell me everything. I got so caught up in the rebuilding of Prox and Vale that I never got the chance. Now that things have finally settled down she just leaves? What's with her?" Ivan's unconscious feet had brought him to the center of town and the strange design. He sighed. "I need time to think." He said to himself.  
  
Ivan raised the teleport gem in his hand. The psynergy at his command swirled around to envelope him. After the brief moment of vertigo when the light cleared, he found himself standing in the entryway to Anemos sanctum.  
  
Something wasn't right. Ivan looked around. The room looked exactly like he remembered it. He glanced at the door. The psynergy lights were still glowing and the door was still open. He walked through. Then he saw it. The summon tablet was still there.  
  
"But we took that tablet years ago!" Ivan said to himself. As he inspected the tablet closely he noticed the difference. It was written in ordinary writing. The combo tablets had been written in an unintelligible ancient tongue that no one could read. This tablet was plain Angeran. He read:  
  
Anemos falls  
  
While in these walls  
  
Lie the key  
  
Anemos waits  
  
To be set free  
  
"Well," Ivan thought, "That's certainly an interesting inscription" 


	3. Vision

I've decided to try something different for my disclaimer, so here goes:  
  
Own Golden Sun, I do not. Wish I own it, I do. AAAA-WAY  
  
Secrets of The Adepts, chapter 3:  
  
Sheba walked through the dark passages of the Anemos sanctum. "Stupid torches, going out just because I had to use whirlwind." She said to herself. Using reveal nonstop was proving to be a bigger problem than Isaac had led her to believe.  
  
"Just use reveal," He had said, "you don't need a torch."  
  
"Stupid Isaac." Sheba was in a bad mood. She preferred problems that could be solved with spark plasma. This was not one of them. After searching the Iris's tablet chamber, she had begun searching the entire sanctum for Dullahan. Finally she gave up and decided to try to See again.  
  
She was still walking through the sanctum. The rooms were still dark. Suddenly she stumbled into a room and was almost blinded by some sort of bright light. She stared at the light trying desperately to make out. Ivan's Face?  
  
Sheba was looking at Ivan's face, which was close to her face, and sideways?  
  
"Were you trying to get eaten by fenrirs? I had to fight off three which seemed intent on making you lunch." He said. 


	4. Dullahan

In answer to harnessthemagic's review, Yes, I know that there are no Fenrirs in Anemos, but I put some in anyway. Also, I have no Idea how to beat Dullahan.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun, Mr. Anderson.  
  
Secrets of the Adepts, Chapter 4:  
  
"What are you talking about?" Sheba asked.  
  
"You fell asleep. After all the Revealing you were doing, you didn't have enough psynergy to fry a bug, much less See." Ivan replied. "It's lucky I had that Psy Crystal with me, or we would have been in trouble."  
  
"Yeah," Sheba agreed, "Lucky."  
  
"Where to now?"  
  
"Iris's chamber. Something weird is happening here." Sheba said. "Come on."  
  
As they stepped into the Chamber where Iris's tablet had once stood, the two wind adepts froze in place. Standing there was the towering figure of Dullahan, the Final guardian.  
  
Sheba snapped. "This is getting too confusing!" She shouted, "I'm sick of this!" The adept floated into the air in the middle of the chamber. Lightning sizzled in the air around her, collecting into a huge ball around her. Three bolts flew out from her hands, smashing into Dullahan. It didn't even flinch. Dullahan lashed out. Sheba moved so quickly, it seemed as if she had just teleported, not moved. She sent five more bolts at Dullahan. The energy sizzled around its armor. Sheba summoned a huge wind. The wind slammed Dullahan against the wall. Sheba floated into the middle of the room. Dullahan shot a huge blast of energy at Sheba. She was fast, but not fast enough. She slammed against the wall and slipped to the floor, unconscious.  
  
Time seemed to slow down. "My turn!" Ivan said, drawing the Kikuichimonji from its scabbard at his side. He leapt towards Dullahan, drawing the sword back. He felt the enchanted sword trembling in his hand. An earsplitting howl split Ivan's ears, and a spectral figure appeared, swinging its sword in concert with Ivan. His sword slashed through the air. Just before it made contact with Dullahan, the beast exploded in a blast of light. 


	5. Hamma

Hey everyone, sorry I took so long to update, but I went on a long vacation. Thanks for all the reviews.  
  
Disclaimer: Evil Bob does not own Golden Sun. Evil Bob is really annoying when Evil Bob refers to himself in the third person.  
  
Secrets of the Adepts, chapter 5:  
  
Ivan stood stunned, his sword locked with the cloud brand that had destroyed Dullahan. The great armor's breastplate lay on the floor a few feet away from him. Ivan's eyes slid down the cloud brand to eye its holder, Master Hamma.  
  
"W-what are you doing here?" Ivan stammered. Hamma gave him a cold look, and lowered the cloud brand.  
  
"It's about time you two showed up." She said, "We can't stay here. Things are coming to a climax, and we're going to be right in the middle of it." Hamma walked over to Sheba and shook the girl sharply. Sheba snapped awake.  
  
"Huh?" Sheba murmured as she came to full awareness, "Am I dead?"  
  
"No, you're very much alive," Hama said in a sharp tone, "Now give me the teleport gem." Sheba took out the gem and handed it to Hamma. Ivan wondered where she got the gem; he had taken the party's gem.  
  
Hamma held up the gem and a light swirled around them. When it cleared, they stood on the streets of a strange city. 


	6. Departure Again

Well, I believe that it's time for a disclaimer.  
  
Disclaimer: C:/ Hello Bad command or File name C:/ Do something computer Bad command or File name C:/ Evil Bob does not own Golden Sun Bad Command or File name C:/ Or MS-DOS Bad command or File name (Sound of ax going through a computer screen)  
  
Secrets of the Adepts, chapter 6:  
  
Meanwhile, on the other side of Angara,  
  
"So." Isaac said, "what you're saying is that now that alchemy is back, anyone can be an Adept?" He looked to Kraden for confirmation.  
  
"Yes," the old man replied, "Even the mayor of Alhafra. Which is why you should be wary about this confrontation."  
  
"Yeah," agreed Jenna, "He isn't exactly a honest man. He tried to cheat us the last time we met. We'll have to be careful about him."  
  
"Too bad Sheba and Ivan left," Mia said, "Their mind reading powers would be really useful."  
  
"So would the teleport gem." grumbled Felix, "They took ours and our parents' with them. But you're right. We should be careful about the mayor."  
  
"Why is everyone so scared of this alfalfa guy?" Garet asked, "I can take him!"  
  
"Garet, this isn't a combat situation. This is politics, something you have never had to deal with," Said Kraden, "This is a completely different world than when you were off saving the world. You can't just attack people you don't like."  
  
"That worked just fine before." Garet protested.  
  
"That's because you had Ivan and Sheba to read your mind and tell us when you were about to attack someone." Mia cracked.  
  
"We'd better get going." Sighed Piers, "We have a long way to go if we want to get there by tomorrow."  
  
As the six adepts coasted across the night sky, three looked at the moon, and at their missing friends. 


	7. Betrayal

I've been on vacation (again). This time I brought a computer so I could write, but not post. So here goes:  
  
Disclaimer: Washington- Today president Bush held a press conference on the Republican strategy for the next election. The Republicans have decided to use a platform based entirely on giving money to the rich. In the words of President Bush, "Evil Bob does not owninate Golden Sun, The Republican party or George Bush."  
  
Secrets of the Adepts, chapter 7:  
  
Felix sat on the deck of the Lemurian ship. He came here at night sometimes, to be alone and think. Tonight, he was deep in thought. The meeting with the Alhafran mayor had gone very well. The mayor hadn't threatened them or anything. He had offered the adepts the chance to work for him, but warned the adepts that now that there were other adepts, the mayor could find someone else.  
  
This was one of the situations where Sheba could be really useful. Why did she have to run off like that? It was such a waste of assets. If the wind adepts died, Felix would be at a severe disadvantage. Felix mentally kicked himself for thinking of people like he would think of a sword: useful, but not irreplaceable. He hated himself when he was like that. That was what happened if you hung around with Alex too much. What a jerk the water adept had turned out to be.  
  
"Are you Felix?" A voice inquired out of darkness, "Answer." The last word was obviously a command.  
  
"Yes." Felix replied uneasily, "Who is it?" As if to answer, master Hamma stepped out of the shadows. She carried an unsheathed Cloud Brand. "Hamma, you don't need a sword, it's perfectly safe." Felix said. Hamma held the sword in a fighting position and advanced on Felix. Felix felt a growing unease in the pit of his stomach. "Hamma." He began. Felix didn't get a chance to finish. Hamma lunged, biting into his arm with the cloud brand. The second strike aimed for his head. Felix barely got Excalibur up in time to block the blow. He stood up, bleeding from the arm. He drew up psynergy to defend himself, as did Hamma. When the concealing light fell from Hamma, the adept was gone. Felix looked around for Hamma and realized too late that she was right behind him. He fell into unconsciousness as Hamma's sword bit into his shoulder. 


	8. Gift

Thinking of funny ideas for disclaimers isn't as easy as you think. I'm thinking of hiring someone to do it.  
  
Disclaimer: DISCOUNTSDISCOUNTSDISCOUNTS!!! BUY ALL YOUR STUFF AT EVIL BOB'S!!! OR ELSE!!! EVIL BOB DOES NOT OWN GOLDEN SUN OR THOSE IRRITATING SHOUTING CAR COMMERCIALS  
  
Secrets of the Adepts, Chapter 8:  
  
Sheba woke up at the crack of dawn. She found that for the first time since she and Ivan had come to the floating city, she could breathe easily. It had taken a week, but Sheba had finally grown accustomed to the High altitude. At first it had been a shock that the city of Anemos still existed, but after she realized that it must be true, almost everything about her life had fallen into place. Anemos was her home. She had fallen from it sixteen years ago, into the city of Lalivero. Now she was home and she had never felt better. Her family was dead, but that could be expected. Her parents had been old, and she an only child. On the bright side, Sheba had inherited her parents' house, which was where Sheba and Ivan were staying.  
  
Hamma had been out on a mysterious journey for about five days now, but she should be back soon. Ivan was staying with Sheba in her house in Anemos. It was a nice city. He still had no clue about his family and past, Hamma still wouldn't tell him. Ivan also had a troubling feeling in his gut. Aside from that, life was good.  
  
Hamma walked into the living room of Sheba's house. Sheba was sitting in a chair, reading. "Hello Sheba." She said, her voice weak.  
  
"Hamma, is something wrong?" Sheba asked, worried.  
  
"N-no," Hamma said, "You need this." She threw a small amulet at Sheba. The girl caught it and inspected it.  
  
"It's an Amulet of healing. You'll need it." Hamma said. Her voice was strained, as if she were fighting an internal struggle. "Don't let the water get it!" She cried, and ran out the door. 


	9. Seeking

Greetings everyone! This is my alter ego, Gullible Bob. He has agreed to do the disclaimer. He thinks that I'm Bob Marley. Don't tell anyone.  
  
Disclaimer courtesy of Gullible Bob: Evil Bob does not own Bob Marley or Golden sun. And now. Ladies and Gentlemen. BOB MARLEY!!!!  
  
Secrets of the Adepts, Chapter 9:  
  
Mia sat beside Felix's cot. Felix was still running a fever. He had never woken up enough to tell anyone what happened. All Mia knew, was that someone had attacked Felix, and fled when he screamed. Piers, being paranoid, suspected that the blade had been poisoned. No one believed Piers, but Mia purged Felix, just in case. Isaac and Garet had left to find out who could have attacked Felix. While they were doing that, Piers had taken the ship to get help. He came back with Master Hamma two days ago now. All in all, it had been a week from the attack.  
  
Hamma walked in, interrupting Mia's train of thought. "Is he OK?" She asked.  
  
Mia nodded, "He'll pull through." She said, "I wish Ivan and Sheba where here."  
  
Hamma nodded, "I know where they are." She said, mysterious as ever, "I led them to their home city two weeks ago."  
  
"Right after they left." Mia murmured, "Will you go get them?"  
  
"No," Hamma said, "They have to know the truth about themselves. When the others get back, we could go there. Felix would be safe."  
  
"Where are they?" Asked Mia.  
  
"Anemos." Replied Hamma, walking out of the room.  
  
Mia opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it. That night, while everyone else slept she crept out to the docks and on to the ship. With the moon as witness, the Lemurian ship lifted off the ground, in search of Anemos. 


	10. Trap

Well, I'm back. Thanks for all the reviews and such. I'm glad you like the disclaimers; I have fun making them up. As for Hamma, all will be revealed (no pun intended) in time.  
  
In other news, Gullible Bob got a lawyer, so I have to deliver a formal apology. Here goes:  
  
Disclaimer: I, Evil Bob, who does not own Golden Sun or Bob Marley, am not Bob Marley, as stated in the presence of whoever is reading this.  
  
Secrets of the Adepts, Chapter 10:  
  
The Lemurian ship coasted through the sky above Treasure Isle. Not having found Sheba or Ivan in any of the cities she new of, Mia had taken to looking for new cities. So far, she hadn't found any.  
  
Watching her from the top of one of the pillars, obscured by the fog, was a long-haired man dressed entirely in blue. He laughed to himself, "She'll never find them that way." And then he was gone, faster than the wind could carry a ghost of the sound of his voice to the ship.  
  
Isaac stared at the empty dock. It was all so strange. First Ivan and Sheba had disappeared to some sort of city, and now Mia had stolen the ship and left. Did they know something he didn't? And what was with all these new adepts popping up all over the place? Alchemy being released was fine, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something missing, one piece of the big jigsaw puzzle that he and his friends seemed to be caught up in.  
  
Mia's first encounter with Anemos was a very solid one. Literally. Luckily, the half of the ship that she was on came to rest on a ledge, from which she was able to climb up to the city. Anemos was huge. It was much bigger than even Tolbi, and Vale could have fit inside it several times. The growth of Anemos had been a strange one. After the people of Anemos had isolated themselves from the rest of humanity in hopes of keeping Alchemy's secrets alive, they had quickly run out of space to build in. The only thing they could do was build on top of existing structures. When Anemos had gone into a decline during the so-called "Dark Age", many of the buildings had been abandoned. Most of the population now resides in the upper levels. So, when Mia first entered Anemos, most of the buildings she saw were abandoned.  
  
She peeked into an old warehouse. "Hello? Is anyone there?" She called. Mia heard something move. She walked in to investigate. "Hello?" She called again. Suddenly the noise stopped. Mia looked around, and suddenly realized that the whole building was alight with Psynergetic power. She was standing in a circle that burned bright with water psyenergy. Suddenly she was doused in a pillar of water. Everything went black.  
  
Halfway across the city, in a brightly lit room Master Hamma looked blankly at a man. He was hideous; half of his head was burned to a crisp. Hs left eye was gone and an empty socket stared out of the burned flesh. His formerly long silky blue hair was burned and ratted. His left arm and leg were mangled and useless, and you got the feeling that the left half of his body had a hole through it that was covered up by his clothing. It was obvious that he should have been dead. He smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. "One down, seven to go." He said, and crossed Mia's name off a list on the table in from of him. 


	11. Search

Greetings and welcome to chapter 11. This is Evil Bob, here with my alter ego Gullible Bob, and his lawyer, Timmy the Lizard. Due to a shortage of funds, Evil Bob industries inc. has been forced to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Thankfully, this means that we can still operate (HA HA), but we can no longer afford a disclaimer, therefore we will be making one anyway and charging it to Gullible Bob's private account. (He thinks it was the cookie expenses) The downside is that Gullible Bob only has enough money to hire Timmy to give the disclaimer. Here goes:  
  
Disclaimer: (Thoughtfully provided by Timmy the Lizard) HISSSS, HISS. HISSSSSS, HISSS HISSS HISSS HISSS HISSSSSSSSSSSS HISS. (Translation: Disclaimer. Evil Bob does not own Golden Sun)  
  
Thank you Timmy. And now, chapter 11.  
  
Secrets of the Adepts, Chapter 11:  
  
Sheba looked at the trinket that Hamma had given her the last time they met. She remembered Hamma's last words to her: "Don't let the water get it!" Sheba pondered what they could mean. The only obvious thing was to keep it secret. "Don't let the water get it!" Hamma was referring to a water adept, but why should Sheba keep it secret from Mia or Piers? The only other water adept Sheba knew was Alex, but he died on Mt. Aleph years ago.  
  
Just then Ivan walked into the room, and Sheba hurriedly put away the Amulet. "Have you seen Hamma?" Ivan asked, "She's been gone for a little too long."  
  
"No, I haven't," Sheba said, "I wonder what she could be up to?"  
  
Ivan shrugged. "I have no idea. She's been really mysterious lately." He said.  
  
"Yeah, I have a couple of questions that I need to ask too." Sheba said, "Where was she staying?"  
  
"Somewhere in the lower city. Lets go look for her." Ivan said.  
  
Sheba and Ivan searched the whole lower city without finding Hamma. They were starting to get worried. "Where could she be?" Sheba asked, frustrated.  
  
"I don't know,' Ivan said. At that moment, they both felt a burst of Psynergetic power. Ivan gasped, "What was that?" He asked, "It felt like Mercury psyenergy, but Mia and Piers are in Vale, and all the people here are Jupiter adepts!"  
  
"I don't know," Sheba said "but we should probably check it out."  
  
They followed the strings of power to the source, a small abandoned warehouse. Ivan looked inside. He gasped again. Inside the warehouse was what appeared to be a ice statue of Mia. 


	12. Confrontation

I'm back! I know I haven't updated in a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time, but I have been busy with school and my other story. (read it)  
  
Since I can't be funny today, the disclaimer will just have to say that I don't own golden sun. Darn.  
  
And without further stuff, chapter 12  
  
Secrets of the Adepts: Chapter 12  
  
Sheba liked problems that could be solved with spark plasma. This, she thought, was one of them. "If she's encased in ice, plasma will just melt it. Besides, she can survive the attack." Sheba said.  
  
"I don't know. This is just a little two weird. The statue is too lifelike to be a statue, especially here, where no one has ever seen Mia." Ivan said, "I have a bad feeling about this."  
  
"Leave the bad feelings to those with prophecy." Sheba snapped, "Nothing will go wrong. She probably just lost control of a spell." Sheba raised her arms. The room crackled with lightning. A huge bolt leapt at Mia just as Sheba screamed "SHINE PLASMA!"  
  
The bolt of energy rushed at Mia. Seconds before it reached her, the ice disappeared, leaving Mia standing there to face the bolt. The energy struck, slamming her against the wall. Mia screamed. The bolt faded, and as suddenly as it had disappeared, the ice was back. Mia was trapped inside, her face the very image of pain.  
  
"Well," Ivan commented, "I guess we shouldn't try that again."  
  
Sheba felt a chill in the air. "RUN!" She screamed at Ivan, and threw herself to the side. Ivan followed suit, an aura of electrical and wind energy surrounding him. Two blocks of ice appeared exactly where they had been standing. Sheba whirled around to face the door. Standing just inside was the most horrible figure of a man she had ever seen.  
  
"Alex!" Ivan gasped, "but you're dead!"  
  
Alex smiled, "That's what you thought. I had thought to trap you like the others, but it's too late for that now." He raised his one remaining hand, and spikes of ice speared up through the floor. Ivan and Sheba just barely dodged them. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity leaped from Ivan, slamming into Alex.  
  
"Well, I guess you two aren't pushovers, however young you are." Alex said. Waves of water leapt out of the shadows at the two Jupiter adepts. There was a flash of light, and the water was vaporized, courtesy of Sheba's plasma.  
  
Alex attacked again and again, the Jupiter adepts barely avoiding or blocking his strikes. Ivan and Sheba had no chance to take the offensive. It was only a matter of time before Alex got the best of them.  
  
Out of nowhere, a huge blast of psynergy leapt at Alex, slamming him into the wall. Master Hamma stepped out of the shadows, cloud brand at the ready.  
  
"y-You!" Alex stammered, "How did you break free and come here?"  
  
"I am much stronger than you estimated, Alex." Hamma replied coolly, "I've come to put an end to you." She turned to Ivan and Sheba. "Get out of here while you still can." She said, "Alex still cannot leave the city. You should be grateful for that."  
  
Ivan raised a teleport gem, and he and Sheba disappeared in a blaze of light.  
  
Hamma turned to Alex, "Now to deal with you. 


	13. The next move

It's back from the dead! Rejoice! And, while you're at it, read some of the stories that have taken up so much of my time that I haven't had time to update. Or just read this chapter. Either one is fine.  
  
Secrets of the Adepts, chapter 13: The next move  
  
"I can't believe she would do that." Ivan said, staring into the ocean. He and Sheba were standing on the beach near Yallam, where they had teleported.  
  
"Something else is going on here," Sheba said, "Something that neither of us understand.  
  
"But," Ivan said, "The Wise One said that Alex was imprisoned inside the remains of Sol Sanctum.  
  
"The Wise One tricked us before, you know." Sheba said. "Besides, Alex does have most of the power from the Golden Sun."  
  
"What worries me is that Isaac has the rest, and is now a statue in Lemuria." Ivan said, "This is hopeless. We couldn't stop him even with the others. Alone, we don't have a chance."  
  
"We have some hope," Sheba said, "He didn't kill us yet."  
  
"So, now what?"  
  
"We should try and find the Wise One." Sheba said, "On the downside, it is almost impossible to find unless it wants to be found. I suggest that we go back to Alhafra. That was where everyone was before all this started." Sheba stood up. Ivan handed her the teleport gem, and they disappeared in a flash of light.  
  
The adepts reappeared outside of the walls of Alhafra. "It certainly has grown since the last time we were here." Ivan said.  
  
"Of course," Sheba replied, "Since the release of Alchemy, towns like this have grown tremendously. Come on, let's go." The two adepts walked into the city. In the guardhouse, one of the guards used psynergy to take a mental picture of the two adepts and implanted it directly in the mayor's mind.  
  
The Mayor started. He always got mental images of all the adepts that entered the city. The problem was that he recognized these two. It was those mind reading jerks. He pulled out a small amulet from his pocket. It was engraved with the sign of the Mercury clan. He tapped it in a rhythm and placed it on the desk in front of him. A few seconds later, an image of the horribly disfigured Alex appeared. The image spoke. "What is it this time?" It asked irritably.  
  
The mayor put on his angriest face. "Listen Alex, some of those mind reading jerks just walked past the gatehouse."  
  
"So?" Alex said, "You have the resources to stop a couple of Jupiter adepts."  
  
"No Alex," The Mayor said, "Not these two."  
  
Alex smiled, "Ah, the fish that got away. I see."  
  
"Alex, you said that you would get those adepts out of my hair. Why are they here?"  
  
"Plans have changed. Complications have arisen. It's nothing that I can't deal with, in time." Alex said.  
  
"Listen Alex, if they get any idea of what has been happening here, I'm a dead man." The Mayor said.  
  
Alex shook his head. "As that may be, I won't be doing anything about it. Deal with your own problems. Goodbye." The image of Alex disappeared, and the sign of Mercury faded. It would come back, in time.  
  
The Mayor sat down. He was worried. After alchemy had been released, Alex had come to him to make a deal. The Mayor had been promised great wealth and power, if he could deliver a certain artifact to Alex. He had done it. Unfortunately, Alex refused to follow his side of the bargain until the whole business was done. Alex had, however, agreed to help the mayor with any adept problems that might come up. The Mayor was not without suspicion, though. Alex had claimed that he had been after the annoying adepts that had come to talk to him about the dangers of Alchemy. Like any of those had been things to worry about. Still, the Mayor was worried. He turned back to his desk and began writing. 


	14. The Warning

Chapter 14: The Warning  
  
Johnathan had always wanted to be an Alhafran guard. He had followed around the guard when he could barely walk. When the other boys were playing at being Collosso Gladiators, or the Adepts of legend, Johnathan was always a guard in Alhafra. He had kept his obsession through his teen years, and applied as soon as he was allowed to, at age 16. He had passed Guard Academy with honors. He had been serving on the guard for four years without incident, when he found the dead woman. He was patrolling his ordinary route when he saw her. She was hard to miss.  
  
Johnathan walked into the town square. He saw some sort of red liquid splashed around the area. He looked up at the statue of the Mayor, and saw her. A woman was suspended on the statue. She had been mutilated by some sort of blade, and Johnathan could see wounds that couldn't have been anything but fatal. That was when he noticed the words written in blood on the ground. They were in common script. Johnathan overcame his aversion and read them.  
  
"Resistance is futile. -Alex"  
  
Johnathan ran back to headquarters to report the incident.

* * *

Ivan heard about the incident at breakfast. He and Sheba were staying in the local inn. At breakfast, the other guests had been alive with talk of the murder and the message in blood.  
  
"Did you hear?"  
"What?"  
"The Murder?"  
"Of course."  
"Who did it?"  
"It was the Mob"  
"Don't be stupid. It was the guard. Everyone knows they do the Mayor's dirty work!"  
"You're stupid! It was those new Adepts!"  
"It was the Proxians!"  
"It was not! It was the Lemurians!"  
"What was the message?"  
"Probably some insane ramblings."  
"Don't be silly. It was the identity of the killer!"  
"The Guard isn't letting anyone see it."  
"Duh! It says they did it!"  
  
Ivan was almost afraid to go look at it. However, Sheba wasn't about to let it go. It sounded like the type of thing that Alex would do.  
  
They left the inn and walked towards the Guard building. They ran into the guard fairly quickly.  
  
"Halt! What do you want?" The Guard asked.  
  
"Do you know who was killed?" Sheba asked.  
  
"I'm not allowed to give you that information." The Guard said. That wasn't a problem for two Jupiter adepts. However, a quick probe of his mind proved that he knew nothing about the murder.  
  
"Can we see your commander?" Sheba asked.  
  
"Er... Yes, I think." The Guard said, "Right this way."  
  
The Guard led Ivan and Sheba into the building. They were led to a nice looking office. It was utilitarian rather than pretty, but a trained observer could tell that whoever used it knew what they were doing. Behind the desk sat the local guard commander.  
  
"Who are you, and what do you want?" He asked.  
  
"My name is Sheba, and this is Ivan. We're trying to find out who was murdered yesterday." Sheba said.  
  
"To be honest, we have no idea. None of the guard had ever met her, and her corpse was almost unrecognizable." The Guard captain said.  
  
"Can we try?"  
  
"I suppose. What have we got to lose?"  
  
The Guard captain led them to a small room. On a table, the corpse was laid out. It had been painstakingly moved from the square, and the Guard was awaiting the Adepts who would try and figure out what happened. Ivan took one look at it and gasped.  
  
"Hamma!" At that point, he fainted from shock. Sheba managed to keep conscious, but only just.  
  
"You know her?" The captain asked.  
  
"Yes." Sheba replied grimly, "It's Ivan's sister. I also know who killed her."

* * *

And that's the end! For now. 


	15. Resistance is Futile

Chapter 15: Resistance is Futile  
  
Things were not going as planned. The mysterious new murder had thrown a wrench into the gears of they Mayor's well-oiled machine. His plan to get rid of those troublesome Jupiter adepts had been foiled, as too many murders in one week started to look like conspiracy. And when there was conspiracy, everyone looked at the Mayor. He turned to the commander of the Guard.  
  
"Have you gotten the Square cleaned up yet?" He asked.  
  
"No sir." The Commander replied, all military discipline. It was safer that way. If the Mayor got angry, you'd be busted so low you'd have to say 'sir' to a cockroach.  
  
"Why not? I want the city back to normal as soon as possible, so that we can proceed with the Plan." The Mayor said, starting to get slightly irritated.  
  
"We found two witnesses, sir!" The Commander replied, sinking farther into his military faceless persona.  
  
"Who cares? I already told you to stop investigating this crime and get back to normal as soon as you can!" The Mayor was starting to get angry.  
  
"Sir! They claim to be family members of the victim! And to know the identity of the criminal. Sir!" The Commander replied.  
  
"I don't care about the crime." The Mayor said, taking the tone usually used to enlighten five-year-olds to mistakes, "I just want everything back to normal. Understand? Or do I need to find someone else who does?"  
  
"Sir! Yes Sir! I Understand Sir! You don't have to find anyone else! Sir!"

* * *

Ivan was recuperating in the Guard building, while Sheba spoke to the Captain.  
  
"The Murderer was an old acquaintance of ours. A Water Adept named Alex. He's incredibly powerful and dangerous, and was presumed dead until a few days ago." She told the Guard.  
  
"That doesn't help us. We have no file on him, and no location on his whereabouts." The Guard said, slightly irritated.  
  
"Join the club." Sheba said, slightly sarcastically, "We have no idea where he is either, but we do know that we'd like to be as far away from him as possible."  
  
"To be honest, we assumed that the message was a warning TO Alex, not from him." The Guard said.  
  
"Understandable," Sheba replied, "Most people who don't know him might draw that conclusion. But Alex is the one person I know insane enough to sign his name on a murder."  
  
"We understand. We'll take care of everything. You and Ivan can stay here for as long as you wish. Talk to me if you have any questions."  
  
"Very well."

* * *

Alex was getting annoyed. Somehow, Ivan and Sheba were managing to escape his detection. Alex's rational mind told him that was impossible, but his Alchemic training told him that something deeper was going on. Something would have to be done, and quickly. He could no longer sense them in the general vicinity of Alhafra, but he also had no idea how they could have left, seeing as he didn't sense them anywhere else either. There was a slight chance that the Mayor had succeeded in his plan to 'eliminate' the Adepts, but that was highly unlikely, and Alex would have been informed if he had. Alex groaned. Imprisoning or assassinating seven of the nine most powerful adepts (excluding himself, of course) had not been easy. It was also slightly ironic that the two 'weakest' adepts had managed to escape his grasp. Still, he had all the time in the world. So Alex watched, and waited.

* * *

Hamma had not been herself for quite some time now. It had started when her 'self' had been thrown out of her body, and she had watched the physical vessel of her being attacked and eventually destroyed by Alex. She had been controlling her body at that point, but it was more of a reflex than a conscious action. Now her body was dead, at least until Isaac or Felix could revive it, or she managed to learn how to manifest another one. So Hamma watched. She watched the guard that found her body, and watched the others come running to seek it. She watched as so many looked at the scene of her 'murder', Hamma didn't consider it murder, as she wasn't exactly dead. It would take a lot more than a stabbing to kill HER. She watched Ivan and Sheba come, and watched them look on the scene of Alex's assault, and watched them see her body. She wished she could do something for poor Ivan, but her form, and Something Else, prohibited her.  
  
Hamma didn't quite know where she was. She knew she wasn't dead, though by all rights she should be. She knew that she wasn't in quite the same world that she had been in. Wherever she was now, things seemed... well... odd. Many things were out of proportion. The tallest buildings of Tolbi looked tiny, and the lighthouses towered over continents. She could spot adepts from halfway across Weyard, but ordinary people were so small she had to concentrate for hours to pick one out from the throng. Of course, she could also open 'windows', where proportions were correct and she could see and hear into the rest of the world. It was sort of like her 'visions' of old. However, psynergy was quite beyond her, and she had no way of communicating with anyone who was still inside their bodies. As far as she could tell, she was the only inhabitant of a barren wasteland. Still, there were some things that were beneficial. She could sense vast reserves of untapped power, and knew that what lay there made Alchemy look like child's play. Or perhaps it was Alchemy, just in a new form and new conditions. Still, she had all the time in the world to find out... 


End file.
